(Vatican Radio) Volunteers are keeping busy as the 31st World Youth Day gets underway in Poland.
Vatican Radio’s very own Lydia O’Kane is in Krakow, and shares with us her perspective of the atmosphere on the ground.
Listen:
It’s all hands on deck at the headquarters of the World Youth Day organising committee in the heart of Krakow. Staff and volunteers have been working day and night to ensure that everything goes to plan and nothing is left to chance. As I look around this office space, apart from the computers, pens and reams of paper, ready meals take up their positions on the desks in these rooms, as busy personnel grab a snack on the go.
All the volunteers, who come from all over the world have a particular job to do. Watching two girls stare intensely at their computer screens, I am told they are working in the international relations department which includes dealing with episcopal conferences around the world. In another area of this building there is more work being done on registrations. As I look for my interviewee my attention turns to two young men gathering up a bundle of World Youth Day reading material, while another volunteer receives her instructions.
So why have they come as volunteers? For many, they have been to a World Youth Day before, some to Madrid, others to Brazil, a number also to both, as pilgrims. But the overwhelming reply I hear from the volunteers here is that they want to give back what they have themselves received at World Youth Day, and where better than the city of Krakow.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) French president Francois Hollande telephoned Pope Francis on Tuesday following the death of the elderly priest Fr. Jacques Hamel , 84, who was killed when two Islamic assailants entered his Church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray as he was celebrating Mass.
Hollande said “that when a priest is attacked, all of France is wounded,” according to a statement . He assured the Pope that everything would be done to protect Churches and places of worship.
Recalling Pope Francis’ efforts to defend Christians in the Middle East, Hollonde said that, amid “such painful and harsh” circumstances, he “hoped that the spirit of harmony would prevail over hatred.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has released a video message to the young people of the US Diocese of Brownsville.
The Diocese of Brownsville lies on the Mexican border and is considered one of the most impoverished areas of the United States. The gathering of young people was organized to coincide with World Youth Day, which is taking place in Krakow, Poland and to mark the Feast of Saint Anne, the patron of the Parish where the event is taking place.
Pope Francis’s message to the young people of Diocese of Brownsville (Texas):
Dear young people of the Diocese of Brownsville, gathered on the feast day of Saint Anne, the grandmother of Jesus. I know that you are gathered in Texas, very close to Mexico, very close to Latin America. And I know that you are gathered to come together spiritually with World Youth Day in Krakow. I want to be close to you. I want to tell you to always look forward, always look towards the horizon, don’t let life put walls in front of you, always look at the horizon. Always have courage to want more, more, more … with courage, but, at the same time, do not forget to look back to the heritage you have received from your ancestors, from your grandparents, from your parents; to the legacy of faith that you now have in your hands, as you look forward.
I know that some of you will ask me: “Father, yes, you tell us to look at the horizon and to remember things, but today, what do I do?” Play life to the full! Today, take life as it comes and do good to others. In the world today, a game is being played out in which there is no room for substitutes: either you’re in the team or you’re out. Take the memories you’ve inherited, look towards the horizon and today, grasp life and carry it forward, use it productively, make it fruitful. God calls you to be fruitful! God calls you to transmit this life to others. God calls you to create hope. God calls you to receive mercy and show mercy to others. God calls you to be happy. Do not be afraid! Do not be afraid. Play life to the full! That is life.
I wish you a good meeting of young people, united to World Youth Day, united with young people who are in Krakow. Live enthusiastically and go forward! May the Virgin Mary take great care of you and may Jesus bless you. And please do not forget to pray for me. Thank you.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis begins a 5-day pastoral visit to Poland tomorrow during which he will attend the World Youth Day gathering in the city of Krakow and also visit the former Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz–Birkenhau. Other highlights of his journey include a visit to the revered Monastery of Jasna Gora at Czestochowa where the Pope will celebrate a Mass marking the 1050th anniversary of the baptism of Poland.
Our correspondent in Krakow covering this papal visit is Lydia O’Kane and she filed this report on the atmosphere in the city on the eve of the Pope’s arrival:
(from Vatican Radio)…
Paris, 26. Schock and horror at the “absurd
violence”, radical condemnation for “every form of hatred” and prayer for the
victims. These were the first sentiments expressed by Pope Francis – through
the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr Federico Lombardi – at yet another episode of jihadist terror in
Francis, barely two weeks from the attack in Nice of 14 July. Two men armed
with knives broke into a church in
Saint-Étienne-du Rouvray, near Rouen, during the celebration of Holy
Mass and killed the parish priest after holding him hostage along with two
sisters and three members of the faithful, one of whom was also stabbed and is
in critical condition. The so-called Islamic State (IS) has claimed
responsibility for the attack, confirming that it was carried out by two
“soldiers” from the fundamentalist group. Upon learning the tragic news, Pope Francis
– in a telegram to the Archbishop of Rouen, Dominique Lebrun, signed by his
Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin – wished to assure him of “his spiritual closeness” and that he
joined in “prayer for the suffering of family members, of the pain of the
parish and the diocese of Rouen”. In his message the Pontiff “invokes God, the
merciful Father, that he welcome the Abott Jacque Hamel into the peace of his
light and that he bring comfort to the wounded”. The Holy Father said he was
“particularly shaken by this act of violence that took place in a church,
during the celebration of Mass, a liturgical act that implores God for peace on
this earth. He asks the Lord to inspire all to thoughts of reconciliation and
brotherhood”….